The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1887-12-09
YAHGAN INDIANS.

Iahgans, or southern tribes, are not can
nlbals, as has been supposed, and they do
not eat meat which is not cooked. They
are chiefly fishers and hunters, and the
women among them are the best of swim
mers. The woman has the right to sell
all the fish which she catches above those
required for her family, and they are said
to be good cooks, though they never knew
anything about boiling their food until
lately, and had no vessels in which they
could do so. They do not intermarry with
blood relatives, and the men have one.
two or three wives, according to their
circumstances. They are great quarrel
ers among themselves, and they are both
crafty and treacherous. Having no fixed
principles, they are governed entirely by
their desires and passions. Tattooing is
unknown, but the girls paint their faces
for fashion and the men for mourning.
They are fond of each others company,
and, sitting around the fires of their huts
or wigwams, they are very jovial over
their meals. When they have satisfied
their hunger in the amplest manner-for
they generally have an abundance of food
they indulge in the most animated con-
yersation and in the most excessive DEM
onstrations of joy. Their laughter is nat
ural and hearty, but it is sometimes SO
excessive and boisterous as to drive Sc
rious person quite frantic.
These Indians are not nearly SO fine
looking as the Onas, who inhabit the
northern part of TERRA del Fuego They
are tall, strong and muscular, and their
height is often over six feet. There are
only about 500 of them, and they are
chiefly hunters. The men do the hunting,
while the women do the heavy work and
carry the burdens. Their skin is of a
clear copper color, and it is soft and oily
to the touch. Their dark, lusterless,
woolly hair falls in tufts around large
tonsure cut close in the top of the head.
The face is oval shaped; the forehead mar
row, the eyebrows slightly arched and
the cheek bones prominent. They have /
small mouths, yellow teeth and aquiline /
noses. They do not have any beard to
speak of, and their shoulders are broad
and their chests well developed. Mr.. (
Pepper, who explored the island for the
Argentine Republic, speaks of them as 1
follows: '"The bulky hands of the Onas +
contain short fingers, which terminate in
fiat, square nails. The general gait of !
these Indians is heavy. The dimensions
of the abdomen vary very much,
according to the time at which
he has taken, his Fuegian meal. In
the lower parts of the body nature has
been less prodigal. The legs, although
straight and strong, are not in proportion
to the body; the, calves are meager, ter
minating in i'll defined lines, and the feet
are of moderate size. Notwithstanding
the rough and severe climate which pre-
walls, the inhabitants use no other clothing
than a cloak or poEcho of guanaco skins,
and they generally live in tents, the sides
of which are made of d couple Of poles on
the windy side, over which skins are
stretched or grass is banked. The only
decoration observed ON the women is o
bracelet OF perforated shells. 1t is quite
to distinguish the females from
the males by their dress, though they ex-
hibit but little modesty in exposing their
persons.
14Tlao Onao oro oxtramaly nisaahlo sne:,,e
obliged to hunt the guanacos on foot, they
acquire the habit of running with. in
credible swiftness Through curiosity I
the tracks left in the sand by